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TEXAS (March 31, 2009 RECON Real Estate Center, Reuters, CNN Money) – A total of 13,312 existing homes were sold in Texas last month, a 25.4 percent decline from February 2008, according to MLS data compiled by the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University. The median price dropped 2.9 percent to $138,300 during the same period, and the state finished the month with a 6.7-month inventory of existing homes.

Here is how select Texas cities fared in February (data current as of March 31, 2009):

Sales

Change fromLast Year

MedianPrice

Change fromLast Year

Months'Inventory

Amarillo

179

down 34.7%

$118,800

down 3.2%

6.1

Austin

1,196

down 29.9%

$187,900

up 4.2%

6.1

Beaumont

139

down 9.2%

$132,800

up 10.1%

7.4

Bryan–College Station

91

down 25.4%

$139,500

up 7.6%

5.9

Corpus Christi

235

down 17.3%

$133,800

down 2.1%

9.3

Dallas

2,916

down 24.6%

$145,900

down 1%

6.3

El Paso

326

down 0.6%

$130,900

down 2.2%

11.4

Fort Worth

491

down 35.8%

$107,000

down 7.5%

6.2

Houston

3,762

down 25.3%

$138,100

down 8.5%

6.1

Laredo

57

down 16.2%

$121,400

down 8%

9.1

Longview-Marshall

132

down 21.9%

$118,800

up 3.7%

7.2

Lubbock

199

down 10.4%

$112,600

up 11.2%

5.7

San Antonio

1,124

down 27.3%

$143,300

up 0.2%

8.2

Texarkana

53

down 18.5%

$107,100

up 13.7%

7.6

Tyler

178

down 15.6%

$136,000

up 4.1%

10.6

Waco

135

down 14%

$101,100

down 8.1%

7.7

Additional home sales data for these and other major Texas cities are available on the Center’s website.

Nationally, sales of existing single-family homes last month were down 4.6 percent compared with February 2008, according to the National Association of Realtors. Sales were at a 4.72 million annual rate. At $165,400, the median sales price was down 15.5 percent from a year earlier. Inventory was at 9.7 months.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Census Bureau reported that new home sales rose 4.7 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 337,000 in February from a revised 322,000 in January. While February purchases were up from January's record low, the sales rate was still down more than 41 percent from February 2008, when sales were an estimated 572,000. The report also showed that the median sales price of new houses sold in February was $200,900, down 18 percent from $245,300 a year ago.